Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., will absent himself from the House chamber next month when Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu delivers a controversial address to a joint session of Congress. Vice President Joe Biden will be overseas and not occupying the Senate president’s chair behind Netanyahu. Several prominent Democrats, including House Democratic Whip James Cylburn, […]
[Read More]

Pope Francis will deliver an unprecedented speech to a joint session of Congress during his September visit to the United States. he pontiff will be the first religious leader who is head of state to go before the podium in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives. Pope Francis accepted an invitation from House […]
[Read More]

New York City must, like Seattle and San Francisco, have its own minimum wage that reflects the cost of city living, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday in his State of the City speech. Unlike Seattle, however, de Blasio must win approval from the New York state Legislature for his plans, which call for a […]
[Read More]

President Obama used his State-of-the-Union speech to deliver a sharp poke at a much-used Republican talking point, the “I’m not a scientist” line used to explain delay and obstruction of such climate initiatives as limiting power plant pollution. The “scientist” line is a favorite of House Speaker John Boehner. Hence, when House Republicans produced an […]
[Read More]

House Speaker John Boehner was reelected Tuesday to Congress’ highest post, but saw 25 members of his Republican caucus defect to vote for somebody else or abstain. The ceremonial opening of Congress saw Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., take his seat as Washington’s newest congressman. Newhouse was immediately assigned to the House Natural Resources Committee, which […]
[Read More]

House Speaker John Boehner has seemed like a man fighting the gremlins as he pleged to demonstrate that the incoming Republican-run Congress is capable of governing. Rep. Michael Grimm, R-New York, pleaded guilty to tax fraud last week and had to be forced to quit Congress. House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, had […]
[Read More]

Twenty states and the District of Columbia raised the minimum wages at the start of 2015, with Washington still topping the nation’s wage scale at least for the rest of this year. The wage hikes ranged from 12 cents an hour in Florida to a $1.25 an hour raise in South Dakota. The minimum wage in […]
[Read More]

The Republican hierarchy in the U.S. House of Representatives scrambled to limit damage Tuesday after revelation that House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise gave a speech in 2002 to a racist and white supremacist group in Louisiana. House Speaker John Boehner said he had “full confidence” in Scalise, saying: “More than a decade ago, Rep. […]
[Read More]

Pope Francis basked in the Vatican’s role as broker in the agreement that restored diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba, but incurred the wrath of such conservative Catholic politicians as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. As the exchange of prisoners went down on Wednesday, it was disclosed that negotiators from the two countries had met […]
[Read More]

The Obama administration should use executive authority “to protect families from separation and exploitation” by permitting parents and long-term undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S., according to a letter from two committees of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops. The unpublicized letter, sent to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, is signed by […]
[Read More]